Cheltenham Badlands Trail
“Badlands” is a geologic term for an area of soft rock devoid of vegetation and soil cover that has become molded into a rolling landscape of rounded hills and gullies. Such areas are rare in Ontario and this is one of the best examples. They exhibit the reddish hue of the Queenston Shale that forms them; the iron oxide in the shale produces this colour. The narrow greenish bands that can be seen throughout the shale are due to the change of red iron oxide to green iron oxide brought on by the circulating groundwater. The relatively soft shale is essentially clay and is easily eroded by water. This site was acquired by the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 2000 and is under the care of the Bruce Trail Association.
NOTICE from the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club (12 Feb 08):
The Badlands, near the villages of Inglewood and Cheltenham Ontario, are an Earth Science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI), managed by the Bruce Trail Conservancy. In order to protect the sensitive environment of this site from degradation, visitors are requested to comply with the following: no sliding or digging, stay on the flat area in the vicinity of the interpretative signs, stay off the trail during wet conditions, no tobogganing, no motorized vehicles, no bicycles, no horses and please, do not litter. The Side Trail is closed due to erosion. Take nothing but photographs and leave nothing but your thanks.
Information also provided by the Toronto Hiking website anbd te Bruce Trail. For further information, contact the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club at info@caledonbrucetrail.org.
Cheltenham Badlands Trail
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